Shipping containers or ISO freight containers, also known as “intermodal” containers, have become a global standard (DIN/ISO 668) in freight transport. A major advantage of these ISO containers is that they are able to be moved from one mode of transport to another (e.g. from ship to rail to truck) without needing to unload or reload the contents of the container. In other words, they are suitable for movement between different “modes” of transport, such as sea, rail and/or road. Aircraft are generally not equipped to transport ISO containers. It is therefore usually not possible for a freighter aircraft to take such containers delivered by a ship, train, or lorry and transport them to a destination that may only be accessible by air. Instead, there are other types of containers that have been specifically designed for air freight transport, such as the air/surface containers (DIN/ISO 8323).
Further, conventional cargo handling systems for transporting containers as air freight involve relatively complicated and time-consuming installation procedures. That is, deploying or removing known cargo handling systems with respect to a cargo hold of an aircraft typically results in the aircraft being out of service for an extended period of time while the cargo handling system is assembled in, or demounted from, the hold of the aircraft.